Featured Content

41. EHRs In A VBP World: 3 Ways Technology Can Empower Better Outcomes For Value-Based Care 6/28/2018

    Over the past several years, federal and state programs, grants and commercial payers alike have embraced value-based payment (VBP) models in an effort to improve care quality and slow cost growth. While this shift began in the physical health sector, it is now permeating behavioral health. Given the costs associated with behavioral health, it’s no surprise the industry has united in pursuit of greater value.

42. 5 Reasons Patient Data Privacy And Control Is Vital 1/14/2019

    A patient must reveal the most personal, private information about themselves and therefore must possess the utmost confidence in their physician to keep their information in confidence and all uses of their data transparent. Yet, in today’s digital social media age, does privacy really exist?

43. Community Hospital IT: When To Optimize, When To Replace 5/20/2015

    Does your community hospital leadership expect new technology to solve old problems? If so, it’s time for a perspective shift. In reality, optimizing your hospital’s existing technology and adjusting processes accordingly is usually the quicker, more cost-effective option. Buying new systems won’t automatically make problems go away. By Phil Stravers, ICE Technologies, Inc.

44. Hometown Heroes: How Hutchinson Clinic Saved Their Patients And Their Bottom Line 3/16/2022

    Amid the sights and sounds of the annual Kansas State Fair, the buzz of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center and the fanfare surrounding Hutchinson Community College basketball games, you’ll find the 40,000 locals who call Hutchinson home. “Hutch” as it’s affectionately known, is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas.

45. The Future Of Patient Safety Points To Technology 6/11/2018

    Patient safety is one of the leading concerns within the healthcare industry worldwide. There are 440,000 preventable adverse events that contribute to patient deaths in U.S. hospitals every year, making preventable diseases the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer. Additionally, approximately one in 10 hospitalized patients experience harm due to medical errors, and of those one in 10, at least 50 percent were preventable medical errors. Decreasing medical errors and improving patient outcomes are key priorities for people across the healthcare industry, but reaching these goals has proven to be an ongoing challenge.

46. 3 Ways Digital Innovation Is Reinventing Care Delivery 9/21/2018

    Record investments in digital health startups are just one sign of the hunger for digital innovation in the healthcare industry, with $3.4 billion in digital health deals recorded in the first half of 2018 alone. Non-traditional investors are also taking bold action, including the recently announced $375 million invested by Google in Oscar Health. The momentum of such advancements is reinventing care delivery, with high-touch, high-tech patient touchpoints that deliver better value and outcomes.

47. Are Open APIs The Future Of Meaningful Use? 2/1/2016

    CMS has finally conceded to the weaknesses of their EHR Incentive Program, or Meaningful Use (MU). In recent announcements, Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt admitted the program has lacked the focus on interoperability and usability it should have had and that it is time for a change. The new plan is to find a solution that ties together the incentive programs like MU and PQRS with the move towards value-based reimbursement and a deeper focus on data sharing. By Tom Giannulli, MS, MD, CMIO, Kareo

48. Healthcare Organizations Need To Get Serious About Managing Risk 5/30/2019

    The healthcare industry is a high-pressure, life-impacting industry which can be made even more complicated by the growing number of regulatory requirements. Many of the most challenging mandates are focused on securing critical data and systems within the organizations infrastructure. If not secured properly, cyber threats can be the outcome and are usually associated with insufficient controls, employee risks and negligence.

49. The Importance Of Patient Engagement And Technology 10/20/2015

    Patient engagement has been a rapidly emerging movement and buzzword in the healthcare industry this year. There have been countless articles, blogs, studies, and educational forums dedicated to the topic. It has been labeled as the “the blockbuster drug of the century.” Some say, “The future of healthcare is being shaped largely by the patient engagement evolution.” Others have argued that no other initiative will have such a significant impact on improving the quality of patient care and reducing healthcare costs. So what exactly is patient engagement? By Christine Queally Foisey, President and CEO, MedSafe

50. The Case For Greater Consumer Centricity In Hospital Star Ratings 6/25/2019

    Earlier this year, the CMS announced it was considering retiring the latent variable model it uses to assign its well-established hospital star ratings. The notice came as a surprise to many in the healthcare industry, considering CMS originally defended the star rating methodology nearly a year ago. But hospital executives have largely criticized its continued relevance in today’s healthcare landscape, which is slowly but surely moving toward a consumer-focused model. CMS is currently gathering feedback to decide whether or not permanent changes will be made to the star ratings system, but given how much has changed in the healthcare industry since the ratings were first established (and last revised), many of us in the healthcare industry say it’s time for a refresh.